Don't repeal helmet law

A Pennsylvania Senate committee has approved a bill this week to repeal the state's 35-year-old motorcycle helmet law.

Should the bill eventually pass the legislature, Gov. Edward Rendell has said he will sign it.

What an outrage. Does he not think anything more of the motorcycle riders in Pennsylvania than to sign a bill that statistics show will increase highway fatalities among motorcyclists?

Even worse, Sen. John Wozniak, D.-Cambria County, who represents Conemaugh Township and Benson, Paint and Windber Boroughs in Somerset County, is the bill's sponsor.

Pennsylvania is among at least 12 states over the past year to consider letting adults decide whether to wear a helmet.

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Medical and insurance groups oppose the change, citing the cost of caring for trauma victims and the proven safety benefits of helmets.

Only 20 states still require all riders to wear helmets, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Three states have no helmet law at all, and the other 27 permit adults to ride bare-headed, although some require additional insurance.

The Pennsylvania law was almost changed in 1998, when then Gov. Tom Ridge vetoed the bill because it did not contain a provision for eye protection.

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, helmet-wearing rates have fallen and motorcycle-fatality rates have grown in states where state laws have been repealed.

Unhelmeted motorcyclists are 29 percent less likely to survive a crash, and 40 percent more likely to die from a head injury, the NHTSA says.

Six states that imposed helmet requirements since 1989 experienced first-year motorcycle-fatality decreases ranging from 15 percent to 33 percent, the NHTSA says.

The harsh reality is that no matter how safely a motorcyclist operates his or her vehicle and no matter how many safety courses he or she takes, the person on the cycle is still at the mercy of the competence of the other motorists on the road.

It doesn't matter whether the motorcyclist is in the right when involved in an accident with a conventional vehicle. In an accident, the chances are the motorcyclist will suffer a serious injury and if not wearing a helmet and he lands on his head, the result will likely be death.

We have laws requiring motorists to wear seatbelts and to install child seats. Requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets has been proven to save lives. And we want our friends and neighbors who enjoy riding their motorcycles to live to ride another day.